‘Janet Entebbe Report False’

STATE House explained yesterday that First Lady Mrs. Janet Museveni was not responsible for the Sunday Entebbe Airport incident in which several people booked into the British Airways, missed their flight, reports Milton Olupot.The British Airway (BA) also clarified in a statement that Mrs. Museveni did not influence the circumstances as she had and has always pre-booked her travel.The President’s Press Secretary, Mary Karooro Okurut, yesterday said the First Lady and her team went through the normal process of buying tickets like any other passenger on the flight and were on time for the flight.The BA relationship marketing executive, Ms. Marie Monaghan, said, “The flight was overbooked. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to our valued customers. Most airlines overbook flights to offset the surprisingly large number of people who do not turn up for their flight. This system works extremely well, but on very rare occasions there may be a shortage of seats. In such circumstances, we offer compensation to the customers. It is unfair for the article to dwell on the first Lady’s name.”The Uganda Travel Bureau which booked the flight for the First Lady, said their client did not unseat anybody as alleged in The Monitor story yesterday, because she was booked into the flight a couple of weeks before Sunday February 17. It said Mrs. Museveni was booked on First Class and nobody on the class missed the flight.The Monitor yesterday reported that several passengers booked on the flight to London were left stranded at the airport after an entourage of the First Lady took their places.Okurut in the statement said, “It is unfortunate that some passengers didn’t travel but this is not an unusual occurrence. Whenever this happens, it is not that the First Lady is on board. “What is bothersome is that The Monitor has continuously sought obscure political advantages from mundane occurrences to tarnish the image of the President and his family. It seems like a deliberate campaign to defame, disparage and discredit the President and his family using every available means,” she said.Ends